Certainly, one of the most widely examined class of odorants is represented by the woody compounds. This class consists of chemicals of very different nature and includes alcohols, esters, ketones and ethers having mono- or polycyclic structure, as well as macrocyclic derivatives. Among the woody odorants possessing an alicyclic structure, one may cite the aliphatic ether derivative of ionones, such as for example the compounds of formula ##STR5## which develop an overall woody odor accompanied by a fruity, ambery or, in certain instances, tobacco-like tonality (see DE-OS No. 2,827,636).
Several methyl homologs of .beta.-ionone are disclosed by S. Arctander in Perfume and Flavor Chemicals (Montclair, N.J. 1969, sections 2087 and 2088).
Alicyclic alcohol of formula ##STR6## is known to possess fixative properties in perfumes and it develops an odor of woody-ambery type (see DE-OS No. 2,807,584).
Strange as it may seem, an analogous class of compounds has remained so far unrecognized. We have now discovered that oxygenated alicyclic derivatives of formula (I) develop useful organoleptic properties and that consequently they can be used as valuable ingredients in the perfume and the flavor industry.